Acts 16:31

In this context, "Believe" refers to trusting the sovereign God’s power to deliver, which events had just pictured for the jailer. [Note: The NET Bible note on Acts 16:31.]

This verse raises the question of lordship salvation most clearly in Acts. Must a person make Jesus the Lord (Master) of his or her life to become a Christian?

Most evangelicals believe that to become a Christian one need only trust in the person and finished work of Jesus Christ. It is not necessary to submit to Him completely as personal Master to be saved. [Note: E.g., Lewis S. Chafer, Salvation, pp. 42-53; Ryrie, So Great Salvation; Hodges, Absolutely Free!; Toussaint, "Acts," p. 400; and Constable, "The Gospel . . .".] Some contend that the sinner must also yield his life completely to Jesus as Master as well as Savior to be saved. [Note: E.g., John Murray, Redemption-Accomplished and Applied, pp. 95-116; K. L. Gentry, "The Great Option: A Study of the Lordship Controversy," Baptist Reformation Review 5 (1976):49-79; John R. W. Stott, "Must Christ be Lord to be Savior? Yes," Eternity, September 1959, pp. 15, 17-18, 36-37; Marshall, The Acts . . ., p. 273.]

Those who hold the lordship view insist on the necessity of acknowledging Jesus as Master of one’s life in the act of receiving Him as Savior. According to them these are not two separate sequential acts or successive steps but one act of faith. A few expressions of the lordship salvation view are these.

"The astonishing idea is current in some circles today that we can enjoy the benefits of Christ’s salvation without accepting the challenge of His sovereign Lordship." [Note: John R. W. Stott, Basic Christianity, p. 114.]

"In most instances the modern ’evangelist’ assures his congregation that all any sinner has to do in order to escape Hell and make sure of Heaven is to ’receive Christ as his personal Savior.’ But such teaching is utterly misleading. No one can receive Christ as His Savior while he rejects Him as Lord. Therefore, those who have not bowed to Christ’s sceptre and enthroned Him in their hearts and lives, and yet imagine that they are trusting Him as Savior, are deceived." [Note: Arthur W. Pink, Studies on Saving Faith, pp. 12-13.]

"Where there is no clear knowledge, and hence no realistic recognition of the real claims that Christ makes, there can be no repentance, and therefore no salvation." [Note: J. I. Packer, Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God, p. 73. Cf. pp. 71-73.]

"When we teach (whether it is Matthew, or Romans, or any other book in the New Testament-even in comparison to the Old Testament), we teach that when a person comes to Christ, he receives Him as Savior and Lord, and that genuine salvation demands a commitment to the lordship of Christ." [Note: John MacArthur Jr., Justification by Faith, p. 10. See also idem, The Gospel According to Jesus, and idem, Faith Works: The Gospel According to the Apostles, pp. 73-85.]

"’Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven’ means ’Unless you who call yourselves Christians, who profess to be justified by faith alone and therefore confess that you have nothing whatever to contribute to your own justification-unless you nevertheless conduct yourselves in a way which is utterly superior to the conduct of the very best people, who are hoping to save themselves by their works, you will not enter God’s kingdom. You are not really Christians.’" [Note: James M. Boice, Foundations of the Christian Faith, p. 427.]

There are many excellent evangelical scholars and expositors who believe it is not necessary to commit one’s life to Jesus fully when one trusts in Him as Savior to experience salvation. Some of their statements follow.

"The importance of this question cannot be overestimated in relation to both salvation and sanctification. The message of faith only and the message of faith plus commitment of life cannot both be the gospel; therefore, one of them is false and comes under the curse of perverting the gospel or preaching another gospel (Galatians 1:6-9)." [Note: Ryrie, Balancing the . . ., p. 170.]

"The Christian’s liberty to do precisely as he chooses is as limitless and perfect as any other aspect of grace." [Note: Lewis. S. Chafer, Grace, p. 345.]

"A faithful reading of the entire Book of Acts fails to reveal a single passage where people are found to acknowledge Jesus Christ as their personal Lord in order to be saved." [Note: Everett F. Harrison, "Must Christ Be Lord to Be Savior? No," Eternity, September 1959, p. 16. Cf. also pp. 14 and 48.]

"If discipleship is tantamount to salvation, then one must continue in the Word in order to be saved, for John 8:31 says, ’If ye continue in My word, then are ye My disciples indeed.’ Continuance is absolutely demanded for discipleship. If discipleship and salvation are the same, then continuance is demanded for salvation. Yet the New Testament clearly teaches that salvation is by faith and it is a gift (Ephesians 2:8-9). You have eternal life at the point of faith (John 3:36). Continuance is not a requirement for salvation." [Note: G. Michael Cocoris, Lordship Salvation-Is It Biblical? p. 16.]

"It is an interpretative mistake of the first magnitude to confuse the terms of discipleship with the offer of eternal life as a free gift. ’And whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely’ (Revelation 22:17), is clearly an unconditional benefaction. ’If anyone comes to me and does not . . . he cannot be my disciple’ clearly expresses a relationship which is fully conditional. Not to recognize this simple distinction is to invite confusion and error at the most fundamental level." [Note: Hodges, The Gospel . . ., p. 37.]

". . . I am not a lordship salvation person. I preach the importance of dedication to Jesus Christ. I talk about the works that follow faith. But I believe eternal life is a gift and that I receive it not by anything I do, or am, or promise to become. I take the gift that God offers." [Note: Charles Swindoll, "Dallas’s New Dispensation," Christianity Today, October 25, 1993, p. 15.]

When people trusted Jesus Christ in Acts, what did Luke record they believed about Him?

"In Acts 2, 10, , 16 -passages that present the most material about salvation in the Book of Acts-what one confessed was that Jesus was the Lord in that He was the divine Mediator of salvation with the total capacity and authority to forgive sins and judge men. He is the Lord over salvation because they have turned away from themselves or their own merit to the ascended Lord. He is the divine Dispenser of salvation." [Note: Bock, "Jesus as . . .," p. 151.]

Other New Testament passages corroborate this testimony (Acts 2:38-39; Acts 3:19-26; Acts 4:12; Acts 8:12; Acts 8:35; Acts 10:43; Acts 13:38-39; John 20:28; Romans 10:9-13; 1 Corinthians 12:3; 2 Corinthians 4:5; James 1:1; James 2:1; 1 Peter 3:15; 2 Peter 3:18; Judges 1:4; Judges 1:21; Judges 1:25; Revelation 19:16). [Note: See also William D. Lawrence, "The New Testament Doctrine of the Lordship of Christ" (Th.D. dissertation, Dallas Theological Seminary, 1968).] Submitting to Jesus’ total lordship is the responsibility of all people, but not even all Christians do it (Romans 6:12-14; Romans 12:1-2). It is therefore not biblical, and it is unrealistic, to make it a condition for salvation. [Note: S. Lewis Johnson Jr., "How Faith Works," Christianity Today 33:13 (September 22, 1989):21-25, compared the writings of Ryrie, MacArthur, and Hodges on the lordship issue. Thomas G. Lewellen, "Has Lordship Salvation Been Taught throughout Church History?" Bibliotheca Sacra 147:585 (January-March 1990):54-68, concluded it has not. See MacArthur, Faith Works, pp. 235-58, for his interpretation of the history of gospel preaching.]

"In many places in the Acts it is impossible to distinguish whether Lord stands for Jehovah or the Christ: see Introd. p. lxxii." [Note: Rackham, p. 462, n. 1.]

The Philippian jailer now believed that Jesus had the power to protect and deliver His own. He saw Him as the One with adequate power and authority to save. Note that he had previously appealed to Paul and Silas as "Sirs" (lit. "Lords," Gr. kyrioi, Acts 16:30). Now Paul clarified that there was only one Lord (kyrion) that he needed to believe in, namely, Jesus.

"The word ’Lord’ in the phrase, ’Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ,’ is no different than a modern equivalent such as, ’put confidence in President Reagan.’ The term ’President’ is his title. It indicates his position and his ability to follow through on promises. In a similar fashion, the term ’Lord,’ when applied to Jesus Christ, indicates His position as God and thus His ability to save us and grant us eternal life." [Note: Cocoris, Lordship Salvation . . ., p. 15. Cocoris’ unpublished critique of John MacArthur’s The Gospel According to Jesus entitled "John MacArthur Jr.’s System of Salvation" is very helpful.]

Paul did not mean that the jailer’s whole household would be saved simply because the jailer believed. Other members of the jailer’s household believed and were saved as he believed and was saved (cf. Acts 16:15; Acts 8:36). Personal salvation always depends on personal belief (John 3:16; et al.).

Note also in this verse, as in the rest of Scripture, that faith logically precedes regeneration, not the other way around. [Note: See René A. López, "Is Faith a Gift from God or a Human Exercise?" Bibliotheca Sacra 164:655 (July-September 2007):259-76.]

"Paul and Silas did not say to the Philippian jailer, ’Be saved, and you will believe on the Lord Jesus Christ’! They said, ’Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved’!" [Note: Hodges, Absolutely Free! p. 219.]